In industry nowadays, success or failure depends in part upon knowing the up-to-date status of various assets. For example, in the freight delivery business, up-to-date knowledge of the location and, in some instances, the environment of various assets, such as pallet goods, is critical to efficient and reliable operations. Failure to maintain up-to-date status information can result in temporarily lost assets, sub-optimal use of the assets, and in the case of freight delivery, missed or late deliveries. A wireless tracking device or system is highly beneficial for solving the dilemma of knowing the physical location of the asset at a set point in time.
Many wireless tracking devices utilize radio frequency (RF) to communicate between the tracking device (the transmitter) and the receiver. However, RF signals are unable to penetrate certain structural materials.